


You’re gonna hear me roar

by voices_in_my_head



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Book 5: The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson), First Kiss, writing for the first time for the PJO fandom in 2020? seems like it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22549768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voices_in_my_head/pseuds/voices_in_my_head
Summary: "“I’m sorry, that was stupid of me. You don’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to, of course,” Rachel was babbling. (...)“No, I want to,” he interrupted her, not even sure what she had been saying but to be fair, he thought that Rachel herself didn’t know anymore what she’d been going on about, just trying to fill the silence with words."Set during the beginning of "The Last Olympian." What if Beckendorf had arrived a few minutes later to take Percy to war?
Relationships: Rachel Elizabeth Dare/Percy Jackson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 59





	You’re gonna hear me roar

**Author's Note:**

> I'm re-reading the PJO series and honestly... Rachel/Percy is a very cute ship and there isn't enough content for them, so here I am, adding a small thing to it.
> 
> The italics parts were taken straight from the book. I definitely do not own it.

_“And so… hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?”_

As someone with ADHD, Percy didn’t think it was possible, but his brain kind of… froze, at Rachel’s words. What was he supposed to say? He really enjoyed Rachel’s company and it wasn’t like he hadn’t thought of kissing her before, but…

Rachel’s face fell and Percy realized that he’d been silent too long.

“I’m sorry, that was stupid of me. You don’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to, of course,” Rachel was babbling. Percy didn’t think he’d ever seen her like this. Usually, Rachel was… well, everything Percy wasn’t. Sure, he had to act confident, especially when he was apparently the guy some prophecy talked about that was going to pretty much decide the fate of the world when he turned sixteen – which was, incidentally, less than a week from now – but in reality, Percy usually felt more lost than anything else. If Rachel ever felt that way, she was pretty good at hiding it.

But not now. Now, Rachel was babbling because she was nervous and unsure of herself, and Percy had done that.

“No, I want to,” he interrupted her, not even sure what she had been saying but to be fair, he thought that Rachel herself didn’t know anymore what she’d been going on about, just trying to fill the silence with words.

“You… do?” Rachel asked, uncertain, so different from her original approach and Percy could tell that she had been nervous then too, just trying to hide it.

Percy nodded. Yeah, he wanted to. Percy liked Rachel; he didn’t have to rack his brain _trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn’t hide much. She let you know how she felt._

Rachel was staring at him. She had beautiful green eyes and with the red hair, Percy couldn’t help but think “she looks like a real-life version of Ariel” which, considering he was Poseidon’s son… It wasn’t like he believed some people were meant to be, but there was something there, for sure.

Percy nodded again and then he leaned forward, slowly. He knew that Rachel wanted to kiss him, but he still… well, he’d only had one kiss before this, and Annabeth had pretty much just done it out of nowhere, not giving him any time to react. It had been nice, but it had been one of those “blink and you miss it” moments. Percy definitely didn’t want to miss any of this.

Rachel smiled, small, and then she leaned forward too and their lips were touching. Percy truly didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing. He closed his eyes because it was awkward otherwise but he had no idea where he was supposed to put his hands. In films, kissing people were always over each other; one hand on the hair, on the cheek, on the back… Just the idea of putting one hand on Rachel’s back while they were kissing made him blush, so maybe another time.

Another time. Percy smiled against Rachel’s lips – not exactly conductive to a better kiss – he was definitely up for more of this.

Rachel was the first to pull away. She smiled again, this time not as small and Percy had known children of the actual god of the sun for years and he was pretty sure that Rachel wasn’t one of them, but in that moment… Well, the radiance of her smile could probably power cities.

Unlike when Rachel had dropped that “ _what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl”_ bomb, Percy’s brain was now back to its usual fast racing, and he had too many thoughts inside his head. He was supposed to say something, right?

But well, Percy had always been an action man, not so much a words’ guy, so he simply leaned forward again and went for another kiss. He closed his eyes again and this time felt one of Rachel’s hand going for his hair – gods, this would be a really awkward time to find out he had a serious problem with dandruff. She wasn’t grabbing him or anything, simply running her fingers through it. Her other hand, she put against his neck.

Percy really liked Rachel’s hair but he didn’t feel brave enough to touch it – he’d seen his mother trying to untangle her own hair several times to not fear somehow getting his hand stuck there – so instead he put one hand against her cheek. Rachel sighed against his lips, leaving her own parted, and Percy took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

Percy wasn’t much for romantic books, but he remembered reading one of his mother’s last year and how a kiss had been described as “tongues battling”. As someone who had actually been in battles for the past four years, Percy could tell with all certainty, kissing Rachel was not how that felt at all.

It was more of… an exploration. Both of them wanting to know what the other enjoyed, tasted like…

Percy didn’t know how long they kissed. Long enough for him to finally try and put a hand on Rachel’s hair, and for his hair to get even more messed up than usual. Their kiss stopped with Rachel pecking him on the lips before leaning back. She was smiling. Percy never wanted her to stop.

He really wanted to tell her, “I’ll go with you to St. Thomas.” Hell, part of him wanted to say something more like “I’ll go with you wherever you want.” But Percy had responsibilities and sooner or later, they were going to come calling his name. What he felt for Rachel… it was just another reason to not turn his back on his destiny. He had to make sure the people he loved survived.

Neither of them was speaking, but it wasn’t awkward. Still, Percy wanted to say something. But when he opened his mouth, Rachel spoke first, “I know.”

Percy wanted to ask, “what do you know?” but he thought he knew. Rachel was mortal, but she could see through the Mist. And not just that; she’d been in Daedalus’ Labyrinth, survived it when so many hadn’t, had actually faced Kronos and lived to tell the tale. Yeah, Rachel knew what he’d been going to say. Unless she thought it was more something along the lines of “I should have brushed my teeth before leaving the house” which, if that was the case… Awkward.

But Percy never got the chance to find out just what it was Rachel was talking about, because in that moment _four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH._

Charles Beckendorf was on Blackjack’s back to take Percy to war.

He turned to Rachel. She smiled, and it was sadder than before, but still just as beautiful.

_“Would you tell my mom-“_

_“I’ll tell her. I’m sure she’s used to it. And I’ll explain to Paul about the hood,”_ there was a pause. _“Good luck.”_ Then she kissed Percy again and smiled. Percy smiled back. _“Now, get going, half-blood. Go and kill some monsters for me.”_

Percy smiled and it was his turn to give Rachel a quick kiss. He wanted to say something cool like “I will” or make a promise like “I’ll come back soon” but Rachel was looking at him like she knew everything he was thinking and Percy decided there was nothing he had to say that she didn’t already know. So, he nodded and left the car.

It was time to fight.


End file.
